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Women work without a break for their families, society, and friends all through the year. So, on IWD 2016, LEAD conducted their 3rd annual "Recognizing the Unrecognized", where women in our society who are rarely recognized but are responsible for important work were recognized for their contributions, such as cleaning railway stations, bus stands, picking household trash, selling vegetables etc. LEAD and LEADers believe that, without these women, our communities would come to a standstill.

The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. To that purpose, the LEaders Accelerating Development (LEAD) Program of the Deshpande Foundation was born. LEAD develops innovative and entrepreneurial thinking within college students by exposing them to social issues, encouraging them to volunteer their time and effort into the community, and igniting their latent talent to come up with creative solutions. Through this unique platform provided by LEAD, students are gaining the skills and confidence needed to transform their visions into realities. Armed with guidance, exposure, networking opportunities, financial assistance, and encouragement from LEAD, students from throughout 75 colleges and 14 districts are unleashing their leadership potential to go on inspiring and improving those around them.

The 6th Yuva Summit, an international youth conference on leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship hosted by the Leaders Accelerating Development program, began in Hubballi on 6th February with Mr. Ravindranath Gumaste, Managing Director of Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd., cutting the ceremonial ribbon that let the hundreds of attendees, including students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and honoured guests, into the event grounds.

On 24th January, 107 promising students from across Karnataka and neighbouring states descended upon the VTU campus in Belagavi to mark the kick-off of the 5th annual LEAD Prayana. These students, along with 32 beginning their journey on the same day in Nizamabad, were selected from a pool of almost 500 applicants. LEAD Prayana, which began in 2012 with just 63 students, is an annual leadership journey that takes almost 150 passionate students between the ages of 18-26 throughout India on a 14-day tour across Karnataka...

I am passionate about science, especially physics. My affair with Science started during my childhood and it deepened in my high school when I started participating in Science exhibitions with my models. During Pre University Education, I built the Levitation Train with few of my friends and grabbed prizes at several competitions. “Physics of the Impossible” by Michio Kaku was a book that exposed me further to the vastness of the science and motivated me to start a science group called “Blackbody Science Group (Which Absorbs All Wavelength of Intuitive Minds)”. This group engages in creating interest about science among government and physically disabled school children.

“Success is not about money or fame. It’s about the internal satisfaction
you get from getting the job done.”

I always had an interest in contributing to
society.In fact, before college, my friends and I had goals to start our own NGO to help children of blind
schools throughout Bangalore.I
joined LEAD just over one year ago after starting college at GIT Belgaum because
the program catered to my interest for social service and his passion for
technology.Shortly after joining LEAD,
I completed my first project, “Electric Cycle”, an initiative to help
daily wage laborers, who rely heavily on cycles for transportation, preserve
some of their physical energy and travel faster at a low cost.My cycle, costing just Rs.
2,000, is powered by a motor with a rechargeable battery.The battery can last for up to 100km
and bring the cycle up to a speed of 35km per hour.

After the success from my first project, I dedicated myself to work on bigger challenges. Accumulating waste is undoubtedly one of the greatest
problems India is currently facing; a problem that assaults us on a daily
basis.We see it everywhere we
go-those mountains of trash that plague our neighborhoods and never seem to get
any smaller, and the nets of litter that cause our river water to turn black.
Many trust their cities to take on the waste burden and deposit their billions
of tons of waste into neatly planned landfills. Other individuals set their
waste aflame and watch it shrink to ashes. Our futile attempts to manage this
waste do more harm than good.Landfills only segregate the problem and by the burning our trash, we
just create clouds of smoke filled with toxic fumes that pollute our air and
our vulnerable lungs.

This problem is not unique to India.Around the world, countries struggle to
find a healthy, long-term solution to manage their waste accumulation.While it’s true that some countries
have been managing waste more effectively than others, no country nor person
has yet to identify or implement a solution that can permanently protect us
from the dangers posed by accumulating waste.

The Trash-A-Nator

To solve this problem, I invented the Trash-A-Natora
device that can burn up to 200 liters of dry waste in a short period of time.
The Trash-A-Nator may be a big name, but this machine was constructed with
simplicity in mind.The main
components of the Trash-A-Nator include a commonplace oil barrel, a burner, and
a blower.The oil barrel has a
capacity of 200 liters and is coated inside with heat resistant paint, which
can withstand temperatures up to 600⁰C.A 300 watt blower is fit to the exterior of the barrel.The blower is the only part that
requires an external power source.

How It Works

Dry waste is placed into the barrel.A matchstick is used to set the waste
on fire.The lid is closed and the
blower is turned on.While the
waste is burning inside the barrel, the blower pumps oxygen into the barrel to
continue feeding the flames. In addition, the oxygen that is fed into the
barrel helps convert the deadly carbon monoxide byproduct of the burning into
carbon dioxide, which is healthier for our lungs and for the environment. A
mesh is attached to the top of the barrel to prevent heavy particles, such as
soot, from flying into the air. 90% of the waste will be completely burnt, and
the remaining 10% will be converted into ash.

Future Plans

The innovative nature of my project helped me win the "Best LEADer" award by Dr. T.V. Mohandas Pai at Yuva Summit 2014. As emissions for the Trash-A-Nator remain under the limits
set by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, this machine clearly has a
lot of potential to be marketed as a product. Furthermore, the Trash-A-Nator is
affordable: I estimate that once I receive more orders for the
Trash-A-Nator (he has already received two from major industries), the price
for the machine will probably run between Rs. 6,000 and Rs. 7,000. The current
Trash-A-Nator model is rather large and most suitable to be used by industries
that produce large amounts of waste.However, I am currently working on building a smaller mode that
can be used in homes and purchased at a lower cost. I am also finding a
way to mix the remaining ash from the burnt waste with manure so it can be used
as plant fertilizer.

LEAD has given me a lot of really good opportunities. I've learned a lot, but I think the most important things I've gained are a platform to execute my ideas without fear of failure and the confidence to present my ideas without fear of criticism.